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Highlights

  • ACI Connetic now supports Swift, RTGS, SEPA Instant, TIPS, and other payment systems.
  • The platform integrates account-to-account, card payments, and fraud prevention on a single cloud-native system.
  • Financial institutions can consolidate payment processing and modernize infrastructure using open APIs and modular design.

ACI Worldwide (NASDAQ: ACIW) is a Miami-based payments software company founded in 1975. It provides real-time payment, card, digital banking, and fraud management solutions to financial institutions, merchants, and billers in over 95 countries.

The company has announced the expansion of its Connetic platform, integrating key global and regional payment network capabilities. The cloud-native payments hub now supports cross-border payments via Swift, real-time gross settlement systems including Target2, and instant payments through SEPA’s RT1 and TIPS. Additional payment methods are planned for future implementation.

The latest update brings together account-to-account (A2A) payments, card processing, and AI-based fraud prevention into one unified platform. This integration aims to help financial institutions simplify operations by consolidating diverse payment systems, thereby streamlining processes and reducing reliance on siloed infrastructure.

The enhancements to ACI Connetic come amid growing calls for banks to centralize their payment infrastructure. A recent report from Datos Insights highlighted the urgency for financial institutions to move toward unified payment systems to improve efficiency, address market complexity, and remain competitive. The report cited benefits such as reduced operational complexity and increased flexibility in introducing new services.

Connetic’s cloud-native architecture is designed for scalability and modularity, allowing institutions of various sizes to adapt and deploy the system in line with their specific needs. Open APIs and flexible integration pathways are intended to facilitate adoption across a range of legacy and modern technology environments.

The company is working in collaboration with numerous global clearing and settlement entities. These include the Bank of England, Pay.UK, the European Central Bank (ECB), EBA Clearing, and Stet, in addition to U.S.-based networks such as the Federal Reserve and The Clearing House. This cooperation enables the Connetic platform to offer a wide array of payment rails to banks and financial institutions across different regions.

According to ACI, early adoption of the enhanced platform has occurred in both European and North American markets. The rollout is designed to help institutions update their legacy systems without undertaking full infrastructure overhauls, reducing time and cost burdens typically associated with such projects.